The 3-Point Play: Griesel steps up, but Nebraska's turnover issues continue in loss to Illinois
Nebraska traveled to State Farm Center and pushed Illinois for much of the game on Tuesday night. But too many self-inflicted mistakes doomed the Huskers in a 72-56 defeat.
Here are three takeaways from the loss and what it means for NU going forward…
Turnovers continue to be Nebraska’s undoing
Nebraska has enough to overcome with its offensive limitations. When it gives the ball away at the rate it has been the past few games, it makes winning nearly impossible.
The Huskers committed 19 turnovers at Illinois, marking the third straight outing they’ve had 15 or more giveaways. Illinois turned those into 20 points, joining Northwestern (22 points off of 16 TOs) and Maryland (20 on 15) to score 20 or more off NU miscues.
Nebraska turned it over on 27.1% of its 70 possessions in the loss.
NU came in ranked second-to-last in the Big Ten with 13.0 turnovers committed per game. That average has jumped to 16.7 over the last three losses.
What’s been especially concerning is that Derrick Walker, arguably Nebraska’s best player, has been the biggest culprit recently. The sixth-year senior has now committed 21 turnovers in the last three games.
The Huskers are simply not good enough offensively to overcome that level of self-inflicted damage, especially on the road in Big Ten play.
“They pressure. They ramp up. That’s what they do,” NU head coach Fred Hoiberg said of Illinois’ defense on the Huskers Radio Network postgame show. “But a lot of those were just absolutely inexcusable. I thought we had momentum at the half, and then we came out in the second and just gave it right back to them.”
A more aggressive Sam Griesel
Given how limited Nebraska is on offense, it’s needed much more than what it has been getting from Sam Griesel over the past few games.
The senior point guard answered the call from the opening tip on Tuesday night, finishing with 21 points, six rebounds, and two assists. He scored 15 of the Huskers’ first 17 points and assisted on the other made basket.
Griesel took a combined nine shots over the previous two games, averaging 8.0 points. He had five attempts in the first seven minutes against Illinois and took 17 on the night. That’s three more shots than he’d taken in any game this season.
He also made five of his team-high six free throws in the loss, which were four more attempts than any other NU player.
“I liked him hunting threes,” Hoiberg said. “If they’re going to play off of him, he’s got to be ready to step into it and shoot it. That’s what he was tonight. He had good footwork into his shot. I thought he had great rhythm on his threes.
“He got us going. He got downhill, and then they had to guard him tighter, and that’s what got him to the basket.”
Sam Hoiberg joins the starting lineup
Sam Hoiberg’s unexpected rapid rise up Nebraska’s depth chart reached new heights on Tuesday night.
After seeing notable minutes the past two outings, the redshirt freshman walk-on guard earned his first career start at Illinois.
Along with Jamarques Lawrence and Denim Dawson, the Huskers started three freshmen for the first time since 2016 (Glynn Watson, Jack McVeigh, and Michael Jacobsen). It also marked NU’s seventh different starting lineup in 23 games this season.
The former Lincoln (Nebraska) Pius X standout played just 12 minutes all season prior to last week. However, Hoiberg came in averaging 10.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in 22.0 minutes off the bench against Northwestern and Maryland.
That included a career-high 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting in Saturday’s loss to the Terrapins.
Hoiberg had a much quieter night at Illinois, going scoreless with one rebound and a turnover in just 11 minutes of work. Still, he ended up with a plus/minus of +2. Walker was NU’s only other positive player at +10.
They said it
“When Derrick’s not out there we really struggled. And I thought a couple were really ticky-tack calls on him. It’s just so unfortunate that stars in this league get a lot of calls but it’s not true for Derrick. It’s just really unfortunate.”
Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg on the officiating in the loss to Illinois and Derrick Walker fouling out after 23 minutes.
